The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has maintained the policy rate at 12.0 percent for the second time in row to allow the 2020 rate to infiltrate the economy effectively.

This has been revealed at the first monetary policy meeting of the year 2021 held on the 25 and 26 of January which was took place virtually.

According to a media release from RBM, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreed to maintain the policy rate having note that the inflation outlook has remained constant and from what was forecast in previous committee meeting.

The release reads in part: “In arriving at this decision, the committee noticed that the inflation outlook has remained broadly unchanged from what was envisaged during the Fourth 2020 MPC.”

Another reason for making the decision was that it was deemed necessary to contain impending inflationary pressures as well as provide room to support the recovery of the economy in wake of the second wave of COVID-19.